Managing Time

by Harvard Business Publishing

Does it seem like you never have enough time to get everything done? Keeping on top of your tasks, deadlines, and work schedule can be daunting. Managing Time quickly walks you through the basics. You’ll learn to:
• Assess how you spend your time now
• Prioritize your tasks
• Plan the right time to work on each one
• Avoid procrastination and interruptions


About HBR's 20-Minute Manager Series:
Don't have much time? Get up to speed fast on the most essential business skills with HBR's 20-Minute Manager series. Whether you need a crash course or a brief refresher, each book in the series is a concise, practical primer that will help you brush up on a key management topic.

Advice you can quickly read and apply, for ambitious professionals and aspiring executives—from the most trusted source in business. Also available as an ebook.

Genres: Business, Nonfiction, Audiobook, Self Help, Management, Productivity, Leadership

114 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 1, 2006

About the author

Harvard Business Publishing (HBP) is a publisher founded in 1994 as a not-for-profit, independent corporation and an affiliate of Harvard Business School (distinct from Harvard University Press), with a focus on improving business management practices. The company offers articles, books, case studies, simulations, videos, learning programs, and digital tools to organizations and subscribers.
HBP consists of three market units: Education, Corporate Learning, and Harvard Business Review Group. Their offering consists of print and digital media (Harvard Business Review, Harvard Business Review Press books, Harvard Business School cases), events, digital learning (Harvard ManageMentor, HMM Spark), blended learning, and campus experiences.

Reviews

[Dr. Appu Sasidharan (Dasfill) · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you have ever felt that 24 hours is not enough in a day to complete your tasks, you should consider picking this book up to read. The specialty of the books in this series is that they will help get the basics right, even if it mostly gives you the things you already know.

You will find how to prioritize your tasks to avoid procrastination and complete your tasks in the stipulated time with the help of this book.


Why is it important to log every hour?
This will help you track the time you spend every day effectively. Just spending 5 minutes every night writing down your time log for that day will help you know where you are using your time judiciously and where you are wasting your time.
“The more effort you put into time tracking, the more confident you will be in your results and more likely you will find a solution to your problem.”


My favorite three lines from this book.
“Time management is a skill that you can learn and continue to fine tune with practise. You just have to be disciplined. ”

“Time boxing is a planning tool that is a cross between the to-do list and the calendar. It involves breaking down your schedule into small time periods and then slotting tasks into each chunk. It is like scheduling a meeting with yourself. ”

“If you commit your schedule to paper, you are more likely to follow it.”



This book also discusses important concepts like the time management matrix for prioritizing items in our schedule put forward by Stephen R Covey. Just like the other books in this series, you will never go wrong in selecting this book.

[Labeba Salameh · Rating 3 out of 5]

من الجدير بالذكر أني قرات الكتاب من اجل مسابقة منا
وكانت كل إجاباتي الصحيحة في الامتحان من هذا الكتاب
وهذا يعني ان هذا الكتاب منظم بطريقة واضحة وعملية
يحوي ملخصات جيدة كما العديد من الاسئلة الهامة واجاباتها في أخره
إلا انه في الحقيقة موجه في مجال إدارة الاعمال و للعاملين في ذاك المجال فليس كتاب لإدارة الوقت لمن يعمل مستقلا او لربات البيوت
ربما ساعود لاذكر العناوين الرئيسية للكتاب للمهتمين هنا بعد ان يتاح لي استخدام هاتفي بعد أن حرمني التعلم عن بعد من هذه الميزة

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the first 60% quite a lot and it helped me to feel confident about my prioritization and the time I spent on each category of my work responsibilities. I was able to practically take the tools in the book and share it with my manager and apply it to my daily life. I didn't get a lot of long term takeaways from this book, but since I am new in my role it was great to make sure I was focused on the correct tasks from the start.

[Kunaal · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have always been a master procrastinator. The reasons I procrastinated are:

I don't want to do it
I am not good at doing it 
I find it too laborious 

Managing Time me deconstruct my procrastinator mind and helped understand what I need to when I stuck in the reasons mentioned above. 

It was suggested in this book, that I keep track of my time based on various categories for two weeks. Using this data, I could organise and create targets of where I want to spend my time most. I cut short my lunch times, which is by choice. I also planned for a 20-minute nap post lunch which kept me productive for the rest of the day.  

I realised that just by tracking time I could be more focused at work and stay away from distractions. The moment I was distracted I felt guilty of noting down a wasted time. During the waiting period, I used to focus on some training material, and that wait could squeeze in learning during the work days. 

Being a perfectionist, I always loose interest in something that I plan and things don't turn out the way I planned. When this happened, which was always, I used to get demotivated. The managing time book made me understand that it's ok to deviate from what you planned to do. The idea is to keep improving the system. Only when you stick to tracking your time efficiently, will you be able to set goals for tasks. 

If you are a person, who if often tired of making a decision on what tasks to do when - this book is for you. You can read this book under 20 minutes but its essential you track your time religiously for three weeks to reap the maximum benefits of this book. 

Save some time and go home early! 

[Mtbike40 · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think that this book falls short. I guess you get what you pay for. The ideas in this book are valid, but they are not really covered in a way that really helps you take action and change habits. I also thought that this book was difficult to really get into because it jumps around so much.

I think you are better off trying one of the many great authors on time management like Covey or Tracy. Slapping the Harvard Business School name on a book obviously does not mean that it is ground breaking or the best in its class.

[imane · Rating 5 out of 5]

ابدا بالاولويات اولا ليس كل شيء يجب ان تقوم به هناك امور يجب ان تحذفها من اللائحة وامور يجب ان تحتفظ بها وهناك امور يجب ان تمررها للاخرين لكي يقوموا بها بالنيابة عنك
تعلم ان تقول لا لكل ما يعطلك لا تقم بخدمات للاخرين على حساب وقتك تعلم كيف تقدم نفسك واولوياتك واهدافك على الاخرين
نظم وقتك ضع كل مهمة في حيز من الزمن وقسم وقتك ثم ادرسه لكي تعرف كيف امضيت وقتك
ابتعد عن سارقي الوقت مواقع التواصل الاجتماعي والبريد الالكتروني حدد لهم حيزا من الزمن يكون في الليل مثلا بعد انهاء كل الاولويات او في اخر الاسبوع
قم بتنظيم مقطاعات الاخرين لك مثلا قل لهم نتحدث في هذا فيما بعد او يمكنك ان تحيلهم على شخص اخر او اصنع حيزا من الزمن للاجتماعات واطلب من الجميع ان يكتب لائحة الاسئلة التي يريد طرحها ويطرحها في الاجتماع او في تعليقات على لايف
اهتم بنفسك انتبه لصحتك ولاكلك ولاسرتك ولتنمية ذاتك هناك امور ليس عاجلة لكنها مهمة على المدى البعيد
ويجب ان يكون لديك وقت اعادة شحن عطلة نهاية الاسبوع اسفار لكي تشحن الطاقة من اجل العودة الى العمل كما يجب ان تحضى بعدد ساعات نوم كافية فالنوم الجيد يرفع من الانتاج ومارس الرياضة للتخلص من ضغط العمل ومن الافكار السلبية وانتبه لاكلك فتغذية جيدة يعني صحة جيدة يعني زيادة في الانتاج

[Dhruv Sharma · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nothing new here, most of the things are same as on eat that frog and Seven habits, however it has different approach at some places. It’s a Decent time management intro but not as inspiring, some of the pros and cons are:

Pros: clearly written & easy to read, with good bibliography and useful technical advice on meetings in the appendix.

Cons: Largely workplace-focused, relatively standard advice, but is more a series of tips -it lacks an overall philosophy.

Conclusion: A memory fresher & A decent introduction to time management if you want to get the usual doctrine and are focused on applying it at work, but if you are interested in a more holistic or comprehensive system there are better titles.

[C. Hollis Crossman · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a good refresher on time-management and time-leveraging skills for managers. Some of the info was charmingly out of date (who uses a BlackBerry or fax machine anymore?), but I benefited from the sections on time audits and time-blocking. The need for delegation was emphasized, and some helpful hints for how to go about that task were offered. Nothing earth-shattering, but a good source of encouragement, some good practical advice, and overall a helpful recalibration of how to think about making the most of the limited hours each of us has every day.

[Badr Aleissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

من اجمل الكتب التي عملت تغير فيني ..قرأتة من قبل في ايام دراستي وحدث تغير كبير ..رغم ان الكتاب يركز على تنظيم اوقات في بيئة العمل
الا انه واقع حياه يستفاد منه وبشكل كبير والآن اتمنى ان استفيد منه في حياتي العملية

الكتاب ليس انشائياً بقدر ماهو يعطي حلول وادوات ..ويركز على المشاكل التي تغلب اصحاب العمل في إداراة الوقت...و نصائح للمدراء الناشئين

[Huda Alotaibi · Rating 4 out of 5]

قرأته كونه مقرر :)
ولأول مرة استمتع بقراءة كتاب إلزامي
الكتاب بسيط ويناسب غير المتخصصين كذلك , يتحدث عن نماذج لإدارة الوقت وآلية تطبيقها في الحياة اليومية وفي المشاريع,وعن كيفية وضع الجداول الزمنية للمهام.

[Amal Gaber · Rating 2 out of 5]

كتاب يخاطب المديرين اصحاب الاعمال التنفيذية الواسعة ..لم يكن من الكُتب الممتعة ولكنها من الكُتب المفيدة ..استفدت منه شخصيا وخاصة في أدوات إدارة الوقت ..قرئته مترجما وترجمته لم تكن جيدة ....اتعلمت منه أن انظر قبل شراء الكتاب هل انا من الشريحة المُخاطبة ام لا ؟؟

[Javien · Rating 2 out of 5]

Book generalizes time management. Although it’s great when it comes to prioritizing your time, when it comes to organizing, procrastination, and assessing what the challenges are, the book is unhelpful. Especially in modern society.

[Mohammed Alabdullah · Rating 3 out of 5]

كتاب لطيف وخفيف .. يعني كتاب للجيب يعطي بعض المهارات والدراسة لإدارة الوقت

[Vaibhav · Rating 4 out of 5]

Learned something new. I think I'll able to implement it as well.

[Chloe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Summary of the book:
- Log your time to see how you use it, based on which broad categories of activity they fall under OR urgent/important
- Examine your results to see if you spend more/less time on activities than expected
- Plan where to spend more & less time on, but be reasonable
- Schedule your time (for a start, overestimate rather than underestimate time needed), and after a while review your estimates of time needed. When scheduling,
- First: urgent & important tasks
- second: important & not urgent
- 3rd: urgent & not important
- 4th: not important & not urgent
- To complete projects with deadlines:
- Plan from beginning
- Start from hardest part of project then easier parts
- Overcome procrastination
- Set deadlines (chunking)
- Just start. Start small, most dreaded part is before you start, when thinking about starting
- Make it a game with yourself, e.g. set timer
- Avoid interruptions e.g. emails, which are of high urgency & low importance.
- Reassess yourself. Are you still on track? If no, relook at your priorities, goals & time allocations


Impressions
This book was a short and simple book, with some relevant tips. Most of the points are expected but there were a few new points that I haven’t heard of before. However, it targets only adults - it only talks about work life, and doesn’t mention school related topics for teenagers, but teenagers can use most of the tips too.


Who should read it:
Those who are genuinely interested in improving their time management skills and who will put in effort to change some habits. Since this is quite a short book, it may be a good starting point.


What I’m going to do differently after reading this book:
1. Track/log my time spent on different activities for 1-2 weeks
2. Plan how I should use my time on Google Calendar
3. Change my mindset & approach towards hard projects. First, have a proper plan, then quickly start. I am now more aware that the hardest part is often right before starting on the task, so hopefully I can change my mindset towards that point.


TOP 3 quotes:
“The purpose of time management, isn’t to find ways to do more work; it’s to get the right work done while working at a consistent and comfortable pace. The more realistic, reasonable, and attainable your plan is, the more successful you’ll be at managing your time.”

“Your objective is to devote as much focus, energy, and time as possible to the things that are most important to you.”

“Great time managers don’t just prepare and then stick to their plans; they are also able to improvise. They learn from their mistakes, and make adjustments ... Time management is a continual learning process. You may fail sometimes, but as long as you learn something in the process, you’ll make better decisions in the future. This is the time to capture that learning so you can put it into action when the next opportunity arises.”

[Steve · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's almost cheating to add this to my reading list for the year (hey, but it gets me closer to the goal). As the title suggests, it takes less than half an hour to breeze through this book, but I wanted to post a review because it has some valuable insights. I got it because I am having a really hard time, you guessed it, managing time. Particularly juggling kid care, home schooling and my actual work as both a freelance writer and an active non-profit organization board member. Unsurprisingly, this book is more relevant to the busy corporate manager than the stay-at-home dad and part-time worker homeschooling during a pandemic. However, I still gained some important insights. The keys to managing time, according to this little pamphlet / book, are:
• Assessing and measuring how you are spending time currently.
• Clarifying, defining and prioritizing your goals and tasks.
• Reallocating your time appropriately
• Overcoming procrastination, distractions and other roadblocks.
All easier said than done, of course, but in my case, it was really helpful to think about making a thorough and honest log of how I am spending my time, then breaking my assignments and requirements into smaller chunks. I have been stuck by the mindset that I can't possibly finish a magazine piece because I need a couple of two-hour blocks to just knock out the work. Those are never going to come, so I need to break the story down into manageable tasks and allocate time for them.
OK, I have managed to write about as many words as the authors did, but I recommend this little book. It could probably help quite a few people.

[Mohamed · Rating 4 out of 5]

إدارة الوقت اكثر بكثير من مجرد وضع لائحة لما يتوجب فعله وأن نعرف ان نقول لا إنما هى مهارة لتقييم الذات تتوجب انضباطاً مستمراً فالوقت الشئ الوحيد الذي لا نستطيع ان نشتريه او نبتاعه من الآخرين وهو دائماً محدود وثابتاً ومن اهم الصعوبات هى افتقاد الدقه والاتقان لذا يجب تعلم تعزيز فاعلية الوقت وادارته فتعزيز فاعلية الوقت تعني ان تقضي وقتك في الاشياء ذات اكبر عائد فالافكار الفرعية: ان لكي تحسن فرص انجازك لاهدافك يجب عليك ان تنظر للصورة الكبيرة للمكان الذي تريده لنفسك وان تعرف أولوياتك وما يجب عليك فعله فبخلاف المدة الزمنية التي تحددها لإنجاز أهدافك يمكن ان تجري تعديلاً في برنامجك كما تريد 1)كن حكيماً في قضاء الوقت في انشطة تقربك من هدفك 2)عزز فاعلية وقتك لتحقق اسلوب الحياة الذي ترغبه حتى لو عن طريق ان تخفض عدد ساعات عملك 3)اعمل على تقييم وتخطيط طريقة استخدامك لوقتك لتحقق اهدافك بطريقة يومية 4)وزع مسؤولياتك علي اهداف رئيسية ثم حدد الاولويات تحت كل هدف وتأكد بأن خطتك العامة واقعية وقابلة للتنفيذ حيث ان تدقيقك للوقت و رؤيتك لما تريد فعله هي أهم الادوات التي تساعدك للوصول الى أهدافك

[Chiththarthan Nagarajan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Managing time is the most underrated skill that needs to be highlighted and should be written about for a simple reason. It doesn't look professional if you are late to all the meetings and if you keep missing your deadlines.

Managing time is a simple, straight forward short read and it helps with some decent time boxing tables & charts which is effective if you learn to use it.

P.S. Managing Time was written some time back but it is relevant to work from home employees, work from office folks and hybrid workforce.

[Поли E. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I consider the fact that I am reading about managing time when I have too much time on my hands quite funny.
Just a short 4 months ago every last millisecond of my workday was accounted for.
I had to give a presentation oh how to manage time once upon a time and it would have been awesome if I had this book.

[Anthony · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great book to reference whenever you feel like you are becoming overwhelmed. I used time auditing to open my eyes to the inefficiencies in my life and the time blocking technique to gain better control of my life. I used the resources described in this book to help organize my personal life, although it's targeted at managers. I think there are useful notes for anyone

[Bethany · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not all interruptions, from non-urgent emails to crises, are created equal--but sometimes we treat them as if they were. We get caught up in the rush, and respond to everything right away regardless of its importance and urgency. Give yourself some ground rules to ensure that if your attention is being diverted, you are making the right choice about what to focus on at that time.

[Crystal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Time management is something I have a hard time with but this book has opened my eyes to new ways to try and get a grasp on things.
Writing out time blocks and whats tasks are most to Keats important. These are things I am going to start using in my dialysis life. For school, parenting and even just general life purposes.

[davidgonzalezsr · Rating 3 out of 5]

Short informational book on managing your time. Some of these tips were beneficial. The narration was good.

Disclaimer: My enjoyment of the narrator is based on my listening speed. I only leave 5 stars for books I've listened to or will listen to multiple times. I'll update my review if I listen again.

[Jonathan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Livro curto e prático sobre gestão do tempo.
Reúne dicas práticas de como melhor gerenciar o tempo para conseguir fazer todas as atividades.
Recomendo para quem está totalmente perdido, sem um direcionamento de qual caminho seguir.
Entendo que quem já tem algum conhecimento prévio de gestão do tempo pode achar o livro sem grandes novidades.

[Senagül Köni · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kısa bir anlatım. Temel şeylerden bahsediyor ama bilmediğim aklima gelmeyen yöntemlerden de bahsediyor. Zaman yönetimi kitabının bu şekilde olması hoşuma gitti açıkçası. kitap için 2 3 belki daha fazla gün harcamadan bitiriyorsunuz zaten zamanımız az değil mi? Uygulanırsa çok etkili olacak bir kitap.

[Elle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Need better time management? Take the 20 minutes to read this book’s overview for time management improvement. It walks the reader through tracking their time and how to reschedule it to meet goals - a similar process to other books but with a slight twist that was helpful.

[Nicole Rothenay · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love these short, topical professional development guides. My favorite question from this book: “Are you working at a frenzied pace?” Uh, guilty. This is definitely a mindset piece that I can change.

[Ngọc · Rating 2 out of 5]

Không phải là quá tồi tệ, chỉ là không đủ lôi cuốn và bổ ích để mà đọc lại.

[Ninh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Useful tips and tricks to make you more productive and less stressed.

[Ana Maria · Rating 4 out of 5]

Una lectura sencilla y dirigida para administrar el tiempo propio y de los pares y colaboradores.